Question “Do you even need a Photographer at your Wedding?”

A simple and uncomplicated answer is of course YES you do, but then I am a wedding photographer who loves photographing a wedding day, so what else could I say?

This is after all, going to be a once in a lifetime event for you both, one that you have planned for years, invested a huge amount of both time and money preparing for, called in every favour you have and involved all of your family and friends. All to help you make the day perfect and you couldn’t not have a professional there to record every intricate detail and moment for prosperity, could you?

One interesting thing that people overlook is that your photographer is likely to be the only professional outside of your entourage that will be with you from the very beginning of the day until the very end. We have seen everything, and we make a great resource for answering questions that you might have. Ask a wedding photographer, we will know the answer

For some, their wedding day is an event, the photographer is very important, and I will often arrive the day before, introduce myself, locate the best areas for pictures and help with the set up. Being prepared is crucial to the success of my day. On the day I will be with them from morning prep until the very end of the celebrations, leaving can be a challenge as there will always be one more idea for a picture. Often a wedding like this will require two or more photographers and for the right couple, who realise how important you are to them, they can be great fun to photograph. They will often want to share the day with as many people as possible, either inviting them on the day or via social media. The professional pictures will be shared on their socials and will be needed quickly after the wedding day itself. It’s not unusual for me to be asked on the day when the pictures will be ready and most certainly the day after.

Others are focused on getting married surrounded by family and friends, the professional photographer is important to record the day, but one photographer is often all that’s required and starting just before the ceremony and leaving just before the wedding breakfast or just after the first dance is the norm. They want to have memories to look back on, they will often ask for printed copies and a wedding album. Some pictures will be shared on socials, but it isn’t really the focus of the day. They are happy to wait for the pictures as they want them to be the best they can and are in no hurry.

The third group are only interested in the pure romance of the day and a photographer isn’t on their mind at all. Their day is all about getting married to their loved one and if any pictures are taken it will be by a family friend or on the guests’ mobile phones. In a way I respect their decision to keep the day all about each other, family and friends and I have on several occasions helped them with picture ideas to help their guests capture the key moments. Sometimes they will ask me to join them for an hour after the ceremony, just to capture a few group shots and a few pictures of the newlyweds with beaming smiles and love in their eyes. The immediacy of the shoot makes this a favourite of mine. I arrive early, with a plan that I have agreed with the couple, we all know how long I am with them and when I am leaving. Its simple, pure and uncomplicated. What’s not to like

If are looking at sharing your wedding day with the world and Hello magazine weren’t available “call it a vanity thing” and they want to tell everyone on their socials that they are now married and show everyone with amazing photography, highlights and excerpts of the day and how fabulous you all looked. The new trend for employing content creators all points to how we value our online presence, and your wedding day would be no different to any other special day in your life. Share online everything that you can and employ creatives to ensure you look your best.

Others simply want to have a permanent record of the day to look back on long after the dress has been put away, the suit returned to the high street, the confetti has settled, and the champagne has run dry. Simply wanting to get married, surrounded by family, friends and their loved ones and are not in the slightest bit concerned with how they look online.

Let me be honest, I’ve attended lots of Wedding Fairs, met fabulous couples and not all have booked me. I’ve met couples who say No we’re not going to have a Photographer at our Wedding and that’s fine. The problem is, they have most likely been hovering in the background, listened to me discussing with other couples all of their plans for their wedding day and now, openly stating that they are not employing a photographer, want to chat with me. I am generous with my time and will chat with them, sometimes a couple will change their mind and book me, some don’t, that’s just the nature of being a human being interacting with other human beings, it’s all good and never a wasted experience. Although my heart sinks afterwards because they are often happy to share their vision, their chosen venue might be amazing and the couple themselves may be someone that I really really want to spend some time with photographing their biggest of big days.

I get completely sold on a couple and their wedding day, and because I am a complete romantic I become invested in their day. I work tirelessly throughout the day and have even returned late at night because an idea has come to me, and I just couldn’t ignore the opportunity to create one last picture for them. It’s often a rising full moon or a stunning sunset that brings me back, but it’s always been worthwhile.

I cry at weddings and I’m there working and I’m wiping away a tear at the special moments. If I didn’t, I would start to question my own passion and integrity towards the couple on their wedding day.

One short story I can share with you about me crying at a wedding, as I know they would be fine with it (no names of course). When I met them at a wedding fair they filled out my contact form with the same surname but offered no explanation. I was intrigued of course but I won’t pry, people will tell me when they are ready and sometimes mysteries stay just that.  It later transpired that the bride and groom were remarrying after having split up due to unforeseen circumstances, hence the same surnames. Their children read out a speech during the wedding breakfast, describing how happy they were that mum and dad were back together and married again. On that occasion, as you can imagine, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room and the groom stopped and asked me if I was OK because I had to put down my camera, partly out of respect for the moment and partly because I wasn’t able to see through the tears. I am reliving this moment as I type this for you and believe me its as real today as it was then. What a moment that was and completely life affirming. It was an honour to be there and share in that beautiful moment.

I’m not there just to work. I know so many photographers, to them It’s a business, they turn up, they do their thing and then spend months doing all the editing, when their heart and soul aren’t really in it. It’s simply a business.

For me, photographing a wedding is so much more than the pictures, it’s my chance to help them with their plans for the day and I am there for them and their family as much as they need me to be.

Incidentally, we spend so much more time editing than we did creating the pictures, which is why you cannot have the finished product by the following weekend. I aim to have your gallery of images for you withing two weeks as I want to still be in the moment and I understand how waiting can be tough. I also do not like a backlog so many late nights are spent editing. Then we discover that all the art we’ve created to look amazing is being viewed on phones and uncalibrated computer screens. Please choose to print my work, your pictures will look beautiful printed, you will truly see how amazing you looked in a print.

The couples I have photographed are nearly all friends on Facebook and Insta and I know we’ve all got thousands of friends on Facebook, but I haven’t, most of them are people that I’ve worked with, their friends and family. One thing that I absolutely Love is seeing couples posting the pictures that I took on their wedding day to celebrate their anniversary. It means so much to me that they choose my pictures

If you have made it this far, congratulations. This blog is my experiences of photographing hundreds of weddings and if the advice has helped you in any way, leave me a comment.

If you have a question for me, leave it below and I will do my best to answer it for you

All the best Robb

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